The Golden Age
by Carstairsy
Summary: They sat on the roof for hours the other day, rising only when the sun dipped below the horizon. But he saw a part of her, that fire that makes his heart pound. Dystopian AU. Romanogers.
1. Chapter 1

Hydra came with the promise of a golden age.

Their slogan, hail hydra, was printed everywhere. It flickers on the screens installed all over New York; it's written on countless billboards- the Hydra symbol right next to it. It was an octopus that always gave Natasha the creeps.

At first Hydra stayed true to its promise. Steve Rogers was the first of many. Natasha remembers looking at the screen in downtown and seeing him for the first time. He was scrawny, and looked even smaller in comparison with Howard Stark standing proudly next to him. Stark's voice crackled in the speakers and echoed throughout the city, he said something that Natasha didn't understand. All she knew was that when Steve Rogers came out of the device, he was different. The scrawny kid that stood in his place only moments before was replaced by a tall muscular man. Stark's voice and expression grew more enthusiastic as he talked. Natasha was only staring at Steve, he was gripping onto Howard's shoulder, and other scientist bustled around him. He looked like he was in pain; he was covered in sweat with his eyes shut and his breathing heavy. Natasha watched his chest rise and fall, and felt a pang of pity for the boy on the screen. When his eyes opened they were blue, and Natasha stared at screen until she realized that she was late for ballet. She had to run through New York, and she showed up to ballet sweaty and her hair frizzy. It was worth it with Steve Roger's face fresh in her mind.

That was two years ago when Natasha was only fourteen. A lot can happen in two years. The Government collapsed and Hydra took over, just in time for Hydra to turn to crap. The experiments turned tainted; people went missing. Mostly kids, which is why Natasha refused to go to an orphanage for shelter, and chose the streets instead. Natasha had been on her own for almost two of those years, and she's leaned a few things. Like how to pickpocket, and break into houses.

Which is how Natasha found herself in the shadows by an expensive looking house. She clutched her canvas bag to her chest; it's been empty for almost two weeks. It's been almost four hours since she first climbed the tree she was hiding in; it took her two hours of running to get there. But this house was the biggest in the area, and from what she's seen there's only a family of three living there.

Natasha only steals from those who won't miss it.

An hour ago she saw three figures exit the house, the shortest of which had an arrogant walk that made Natasha scoff. Deciding that the coast was clear, she checked her surroundings one more time before shimmying down the tree.

Carefully she tiptoed across the maintained lawn. The house wasn't as protected as she thought it would be. She placed her hands on the gate and slightly rattled it before deciding it was sturdy enough to climb. She fit her feet in the fence and began to climb with ease. There was a ripping noise, and she looked down to see the fabric on the side of her shoe was ripped off. Those shoes lasted a year; it will be weeks before she could afford another pair. She grabbed the fabric and stuffed it in her pocket to erase any traces.

Natasha dashed across the grass, and knelt in front of the door. She grabbed a pin from her hair, and a strand of red fell in her face. The lock gave away easily, and she swung the door open with caution.

The house was pitch black, and she kept it that way with the exception of a flashlight. She reached the kitchen and worked quickly. She grabbed cans and boxes first, those last longer. She only grabbed less than half of the supplies, because she never wipes people out.

As she tied her canvas bag close, something cold covered her mouth. She screamed, but the object muffled it. Since her eyes had long adjusted to the dark she looked down, and realized it was a metal hand. She screamed again.

A hand shot out, a flesh one, and turned her around. A boy with long brown hair, and hard blue eyes met her. He shone a light in her face. "You're not a Stark," was all he said before Natasha kneaded him in the groin and ran.

As she ran to the front door, canvas bag in hand, she heard another voice that was laced with concern. "What happened, Bucks?"

"Crazy bitch kicked me."

The second her fingertips touched the door, all the lights flicked on. She heard a man's voice all around her. "House shutdown." The sound of locks clicking, and windows shutting filled the house.

The boy's voices started up again, but she couldn't hear anything over the blood rushing in her ears and her heart pounding. "Why are you here?" It was the boy with metal hand's voice, his voice was demanding.

Natasha swallowed, and wiped any look of fear off her face. She turned around and glared at him. The other boy was next to him, he was blond and also had blue eyes but his were softer and could've been kind if it weren't for the current situation. He looked familiar but Natasha couldn't place where she's seen him. They stood side by side in the doorway, and she was correct, it was a metal arm. "Why are you here?" She mimicked.

The Dark Haired Boy crossed his arms and a star peeked out of his shirtsleeve. "I asked you first," he said stubbornly.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Haven't heard that one since elementary school."

The blond one laughed and the other hit him lightly. It was obvious they were close. "Look, we could stand here until we get arrested, because I'm guessing that," the blond one said, flicking his head towards the ceiling, "was a security system, or we could find a way out of here."

Natasha and the boy exchanged one more glare before both of them let out a stubborn "fine."

The blond boy faintly smiled, and Natasha felt annoyed because she couldn't place him. "Under one condition, I get to ask you questions," she said.

"No," the dark haired boy scoffed.

"House shutdown."

"Fine, lets just get out of here." there was a flicker of fear on his eyes. "I'm not going back to Hydra." There was desperation in his voice.

"Good," Natasha said. "Alright, you said this was the Stark house, right?"

His eyes narrowed. "Yes."

"Then they definitely built the system," Natasha stated. "I say it was Anthony, Howard's son." She bolted up the stairs. "It's probably controlled from his room."

"Isn't he, like, seventeen?" The dark haired boy questioned.

"He's a Stark."

"Crazy bitch."

"If you keep calling me that I'll break your nose."

"Well," he said, following her up the stairs, the blond boy following close behind, "considering you took away any chance I had of being a father, it would be a very merciful of you."

"Drama queen."

"Crazy-" he was cut off by the blond boy smacking the back if his head.

They swung the door open of Anthony's room, it didn't look like a seventeen year old's room. Tools and blueprints were everywhere. It looked like a lab with a bed placed in it.

Natasha and the blond boy searched around the room. They weren't exactly sure what they were looking for, but they weren't expecting what they got when Natasha brushed her fingers against the counters. Controls popped out as a projection.

They all crowded around it. "What the hell?" the blond one said to no one in particular.

Natasha was the first one to reach out and touch it, she touched a square and it disappeared. She pulled her hand back, and it knocked into the blond's arm. The slight touch sent tingles through her. "Sorry," she mumbled as she pulled her arm back.

"Don't worry about it," he said, his eyes still glued to the projection. "I think the system is controlled from here," he stated.

"I can figure it out," Natasha said, pushing him out of the way.

His brows knitted together. "I think I could do this," he stated.

The dark haired boy backed away, and started looking around the room.

"Well that's too bad because I already am."

"I'm not trusting you to do this, we can't go back to Hydra," he said.

She put her hands on her hips. "What's that suppose to mean?"

He turned to her. "I don't even know who you are-"

He was interrupted by the dark hair boy smashing the counter with what seemed to be a red and yellow helmet. "Fixed the problem," he said, "thank god he was building a robot or some shit."

They heard the front door open, and voices filled the house. "Our best chance is out the window," the blond said.

"We won't survive that!" Natasha said.

"We will, you won't," the dark haired boy said before jumping out the window.

The blond grabbed her arms and turned her to face him. "I'll jump out, and catch you. You can trust me."

Jumping out a window into a stranger's arms was the last thing she wanted to do, but the voices and footsteps were getting closer. "Okay."

He swung out of the window with ease. Natasha followed suit, more hesitantly, while clutching her bag to her chest. In a blink of an eye she was in his arms. "See? I caught ya," he said with a charming smile.

She opened her mouth to say something but the other boy interrupted them. "Can we go? Like right now?" He called.

The blond grabbed Natasha's arm. "C'mon."

They ran through the woods and didn't stop until the city's lights came into view. They got out of the woods with scratches on their arms, legs and face. They hid in an alley to catch their breath. On the wall next to them "Hail Hydra" was spray painted, but an eagle was painted over it. Natasha examined it, she's seen the eagle a lot latley and she's starting to wonder if it's a symbol.

She turned around when the dark haired boy said, "you are a crazy bitch."

"I'm going to pretend I didnt hear that," Natasha said, "I get to ask you questions. My first one is who the hell are you?"

The dark haired boy stayed silent, while the blond one spoke up. "I'm Steve, this is Bucky."

Bucky grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. "What the hell, Steve?" He hissed.

"What? I think it's fair that she knows," Steve whispered.

"Well what happens when we go our separate ways? We're the most wanted by Hydra, we can't just tell everybody our names."

"Relax, we're not going out separate ways," Steve said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Bucky asked.

"We can't just leave her, she's all alone."

Bucky groaned, "this is just like that stray cat we found."

"One, you're heartless for not letting me keep it. And two-"

Natasha cleared her throat behind them, and they turned around to see her with her arms crossed. "You two are really bad whisperers, you're just talking with a whisper voice. And I'm not going anywhere with you."

Bucky slapped Steve's arm. "See, Rogers? She doesn't want to come."

"Wait, did you just say Rogers? As in Steve Rogers?" Natasha asked. So that's why he looked so familiar. "Arent you, like, Hydra's poster boy, or something?"

"No," they both said, their voices bitter.

"Well either way you know what's going on with Hydra, and I want to know," Natasha said.

"Fine," Steve said, "we got away from Hydra a year ago. I was one of the older... experiments, so it was hard to gey away."

"What about you?" Natasha nodded her head towards Bucky.

He raised up his metal arm, "I'm one of the newer experiments." They tried to make him a weapon, but he didn't say that.

"We're with SHIELD," Steve said, "and you could be really useful to us."

"I don't even know what SHIELD is," Natasha said.

Bucky pointed to the hawk on the wall. "That's SHIELD, we're taking down Hydra."

"We're an organization," Steve continued, "we were at the Stark's because Howard and Maria are important in Hydra. We were hoping to find some information."

"All we got is a stray cat," Bucky mumbled.

"Who said I was going with you?" Natasha said.

Steve shrugged, and grabbed Bucky's shoulder. They turned and starting walking out of the alley. "Fine, you don't have to." Steve said. "It was nice meeting you."

She watched them go, and she couldn't deny how lonely she felt. She couldn't remember the last time she actually spoke to someone before tonight. "Fine!" She called. "I'll go with you."

They turned around, a knowing smile on Steve's face and an annoyed one on Bucky's, and she caught up to them. "I don't think we caught your name," Steve said, the smile still on his face.

"Natasha."

* * *

**AN: This first chapter is pretty brief but the later chapters will explain more. If you're confused about anything just drop it in a review, and I'll try to explain it more in later chapters. Thanks for reading!**

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Marvel **


	2. Chapter 2

**Italics are flashbacks**

Natasha wasn't always on the streets.

When she was fourteen -two months after she ran away- she tried her luck in pick pocketing. There was really no other choice, the money she took with her -her life savings, which wasn't much- was running out. She was pretty good at it, well, she was good at running if she got caught. Which wasn't as often over the weeks, and Natasha got slightly cocky and less careful.

_Natasha walked through the streets of New York with her hands stuffed in her pockets. Her bag bounced against her hip with each step, which eased her anxiety of some one stealing it as she scanned the crowds around her. She didn't really have a destination in mind, but her supplies were low and so was her cash. _

_She's learned who would be the easiest to steal from quickly, and the Swordsman fit that description easily- or she thought he did. Natasha never really learned his real name, and she never really cared to learn it either. Natasha did her usual trick of walking slowly behind him, then bumping into him. She couldn't find a wallet or even a watch and her eyes widened; realization crossed the Swordsman's face, and he grabbed her arm and pulled her into an alley. _

_The world around them was oblivious as his grip tightened on her wrist. "What is your name?" His voice was demanding and sent a shot of fear through Natasha. __Despite it, she held her ground and stayed silent. His grip was painful, "answer me."_

_"Natalie Rushman," she spit out. She knew better than to use her real name. _

_"Well, Natalie," he said, releasing her arm, "that's quite a skill you've got." _

_There were red marks in the shape of his hands on her wrist. He was blocking the exit to the alley, and Natasha's eyes flicked behind him trying to think of a way out. "I wouldn't call stealing a skill."_

_"Ah, but I will," he took a step closer. If she elbowed him in the nose she could duck under him and get away. "I have a proposition for you, Natalie Rushman."_

_He was stepping closer and she decided she should add stomping his foot in for good measure. She raised her arm. "What is it?"_

_"I run a circus," she let out a small breath of relief, but she kept her arms raised, "you've got any other skills other than thievery?" _

_"Ballet."_

_His lips stretched into a smile, "perfect."_

* * *

"I feel like you two are going to murder me."

Steve was laughing as he looked at Natasha from over his shoulder. She insisted on walking behind them, she still wasn't sure if she could trust them. They've been walking the crowded streets for over two hours now, and no one has told her where they're going. Countless faces passed by them in a blur, but her eyes constantly flickered over at Bucky's metal arm swinging as he walked and Steve's blond hair. There was no way she was losing them in the crowd.

"I asked Steve if we could while you were tying your shoe," Bucky said, "he said no."

Steve held up his hands. "Hey, I'm just being a gentleman."

"How romantic," Natasha said in a flat tone, "I'm swooning."

"I aim to please," Steve said, turning back around. But not before giving her another smile.

Natasha walked faster to catch up with them, and slipped her hand onto Steve's shoulder. "So where exactly are we going?"

"You'll see."

She huffed in annoyance, and fell back into step behind them.

* * *

_For some crazy reason Natasha decided to take up the Swordsman's offer. The circus wasn't all that bad, there was always a place to sleep and she never had to skip a meal. It's lonely on the streets, that she will admit, and it was nice to be with people again. Even if it meant having to share a room with the rest of the ballerinas, the room was cramped with bunks and there was always arguments about stolen tights or jewlery, but Natasha called it home._

_A chorus of laughs, footsteps, singing, and talking always echoed through the room, and girls would run from one bunk to another to trade secrets. But Natasha kept to herself; none of the ballerinas tried to approach her, she suspected she scared them off. _

_The only time she regretted not making friends was when she was lost. Countless hours were spent walking through halls and peeking through doorways. When the swordsman noticed a ballerina not on stage one night is when it became a problem._

_He found her wandering through the halls, clutching her ballet slippers. Applause, music, and voices were muffled through the walls, and he dragged her through the halls and tugged her up stairs until they faded. "Why were you not on stage?" _

_"I was lost," she said as she pulled her arm back._

_"How stupid are you?" _

_She clenched her jaw to contain her anger. "It's not like you ever showed me around," she muttered._

_The swordsman groaned in frustration and grabbed her arm again. He pulled her to a door. "I already went on tonight!" A voice said as he opened the door. _

_"Good. You can show," he grabbed Natasha's shoulder and pushed her into the room, "her around." Then he turned on his heels, and slammed the door._

_"Asshole," Natasha muttered._

_"Guessing you're new here?" The voice piped up. _

_She turned around and smoothed down her dress. A boy was sitting on a stool polishing arrows, he looked around fifteen or sixteen. "How can you tell?" _

_"Well, you didn't know not to talk back to him," he nodded his head towards the door. "I'm Clint, Clint Barton."_

_"Natash-alie, Natalie," she corrected herself. _

_"Nice to me you, Natashalie." _

_"It's Natalie, you asshat."_

_"That's hurtful, Natashalie."_

_"It's Natalie!"_

* * *

"Steve, stop looking at her like that."

"Like what?" Steve pretended to look confused, well, tried to.

Bucky rolled his eyes. "With that lovesick look that you get sometimes. She's, like, ten, stop being creepy."

Steve checked behind them to see if Natasha was listening. She wanted to stop and watch the daily reports on the screens, and Steve was relieved to see that she wasn't paying attention to them. "She isn't ten, she's," his voice trailed off, "well she's not ten."

"Already so defensive about her, Rogers"

"Shut up."

* * *

_For some reason she couldn't shake Clint Barton off -though he swears it's the other way around- and found herself having her first real friend. She still remembers the last time she saw him._

_Natasha had just got off of stage, and she was still in her costume. She was fifteen now, and was one of the few fifteen-year-olds left. She noticed that a few weeks ago, but she brushed it off as them just leaving the circus. The dressing room was empty until Clint barged in, she still remembers the look on his face. "You have to get out of here."_

_"Clint, you're not allowed in here!" _

_He grabbed her shoulders. "Natalie, listen to me! You have to leave." _

_She shook his hands off her shoulder. "You're freaking me out."_

_"I heard the swordsman talking to someone, I don't know who, but he's selling you," he said frantically. _

_Natasha's eyes widened. "__What, to who?" _

_Clint was pacing around the room, and running his hands through his hair. "Hydra."_

_Natasha leaned against one of the vanities. "Hydra? Clint, you're not making any sense," Natasha said, incredulous._

_Clint stopped pacing. "Why do you think all the ballerinas are dissapearing? Why do you think they cut us off from society? Why we haven't seen a phone or computer in years?" _

_Natasha stiffened and stayed quiet. Their heads both turned towards the door when they heard faint voices. Natasha pushed off the vanity and ran towards the door. _

_She ran through the halls as silent as she could, but she still heard the swordsman's voice and his footsteps coming towards her. While she was looking over her shoulder for him when she tripped on the stair step. She tumbled down the stairs, and her hand shot out to grab the railing. When she sat up, she was covered in bruises. _

_Natasha looked up to see the Swordsman looming over her. "Listen, you dumb bitch-" He stopped and fell on top of her. With a scream, she pushed him off her. _

_Clint was there holding a weight that he knocked the Swordsman unconscious with. "Run."_

* * *

"We've been walking almost all night, where the hell are we going?"

"We're almost there-" Bucky said.

"Give me an actual answer," Natasha interrupted, "or I'm leaving."

Steve's shoulders stiffened and he turned around. "I swear only ten more minutes, and you'll see."

"Fine."

Steve stopped walking when they reached a building, and Natasha crashed into him. "God, you're like a wall."

Steve laughed and slipped his hand onto her back. "We're here."

Natasha looked up at the building. "I think I know this place."

"Its been abandoned for years," Bucky said.

"I've never been inside, I just use to walk by it almost everyday with my mom."

"Well," Bucky clapped a hand on her back, "it's your lucky day. We're going inside."

Steve's took his hand off her back before they went inside. It was more crowded that Natasha thought it would be. Countless people walked by them, a few greeted Bucky and Steve, and some eyed Natasha.

"Coulson said you brought in a stray." Natasha froze at the voice.

She turned around. "Clint?"

* * *

**AN: There will be eventual Romanogers, and I promise I wont do a love triangle. I know that only Clint was in the circus, but I needed a way for them to meet and be separated. **


	3. Chapter 3

Clint stopped in his tracks. "Nat?" He breathed out.

Steve's eyes flicked between them. "You two know each other?"

Natasha looked at all the eyes on her before turning to Clint, her only friend that she thought she'd never see again. "I use to," she said finally.

The sound of highheels clicking on the floor stopped the conversation. The sound came from a tall girl that looked to be around seventeen, her blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail. "Coulson said there's a new recruit," she said while looking at her clipboard.

"Yes, Pepper, she's right here," Steve said, stepping aside to put Natasha in Pepper's line of vision.

"Name?"

Natasha's eyes flicked to Clint, he's always known her by Natalie Rushman. She looked back at Pepper, "Natasha Romanoff."

"Natasha?" Clint muttered, but Natasha ignored him.

Pepper scribbled on her clipboard before turning back to her with a smile. "Natasha Romanoff, welcome to SHIELD."

* * *

SHIELD only had one downside, it was completely self sufficient. Which meant everyone had jobs to do, which were all jobs Natasha were terrible at. She really could only do the raids, but she has only been there for two weeks, so they didn't trust her to do them yet.

Which is how Natasha found herself in the kitchens, the job she hates the most. She never learned how to cook. Before her mother died she tried teaching Natasha multiple times, but Natasha never got the hang of it. She burnt almost everything she made, so they just gave her a cutting board and kept her away from the stove.

Even though she hates the kitchens, it passes the time. She had been avoiding Clint and the millions of question he probably had for her.

For some reason she was avoiding Steve too, she didn't know why. The only time she saw him was the third day she was there. He caught her eye and gave her a small smile, but she pretended not to see him and ducked into a random door.

"I thought you were dead."

She looked up from the cutting board to see Clint with his arms crossed. "Well it's not like I had any way of contacting you," she said, looking back down at the cutting board. Over the years she had to fight the urge to go back to the circus to see if Clint was still there, but she knew it was a stupid idea.

The chair next to her scratched against the floor, and Clint's voice was next to her. "I know, just stop avoiding me."

She didn't look at him. "I'm not," she said.

"That's bullshit." She stayed quiet, and he sighed. "I know you're not big on the whole mushy reunion thing, I'm not either, but seeing your face once in awhile would be nice."

She finally looked at him. "I'm not apologizing."

"I'm not expecting you to."

A weight lifted off her chest, she didn't even know it was there until it was gone. She had missed Clint, a lot, and she had her best friend back.

"Natalie was a fake name, my name is Natasha," she said.

A smile tugged on Clint's lips. "Alright, Tasha."

* * *

Even though Pepper showed her around on her first day, Natasha still wandered around looking for any places that she didn't know about. Which is how she found the roof.

It easily became one of her favorite places, and it was where she went when she wasn't working. She loved sunlight, and with Fall approaching there wasn't going to be much of it soon. So she spent as much time on the roof as she could.

"You found my favorite spot."

Natasha's head whipped around to see Steve with a small smile on his face. His smile faded at her expression. "I could leave if you want."

Natasha tried to smile. "No, you're fine."

Steve sat next her. "You're crazy you know? Most people wouldn't dangle their legs over the side of a building."

She had never really been afraid of heights. Mostly because of Clint, they would always make bets about who could climb a building faster. At first Clint would win, but Natasha got good at it over time. Heights are something she doesn't think twice about.

Natasha shrugged. "Heights don't bother me," she said simply.

Silence settled over them. Natasha kept her eyes trained on the city below them, but she could occasionally feel Steve's eyes on her. Steve was the one to break the silence. "I've been with SHIELD for a year now; Bucky and I came here when we were seventeen. We've been best friends for years, before Hydra-"

"Why are you telling me all of this?" She cut him off.

He shot her a sideways glance. "So you feel more comfortable here, and maybe tell me about yourself."

She laughed. "Nice try."

"Well let's start with something simple. When's your birthday?" Steve asked.

"Different question."

"Fine," Steve paused, "favorite color?"

She looked at him. She never really noticed his eyes before, they were a shade of blue that she's never seen anyone else have. Without realizing it she spoke. "Blue. What's yours?"

He leaned back on his elbows. "Well it use to be blue, but lately I've been leaning more towards red." A pause. "You still haven't told me how old you are."

"Sixteen, I'm going to be seventeen soon though."

"So your birthday is close," Steve said, raising his eyebrows. She elbowed him. "I'm going to figure it out," he stated confidently.

"Have fun with that."

"I just turned eighteen last month," he said.

She laughed. "You're old, Rogers."

"Hey, Thor is older than me," Steve said, laughing.

"Thor?"

He turned to her. "You don't know Thor? Have you talked to anyone?"

"Nope."

"I'll introduce you to everyone," Steve said, raising.

"Later," she said, pulling him back down to the roof floor, "let's just stay up here a little longer."

He had this stupid grin on his face that made Natasha's heart pound. "Yes, Ma'am."

* * *

**AN: So the next chapter will be more about Steve and Hydra with also a little bit of Romanogers. But I'm not going to make them get together so fast because that's boring. Favorites and follows are appreciated and reviews make my day. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**The first words of a flashback are bolded, I know it's odd but the italics were getting a bit annoying. **

* * *

**Steve** still remembers the first day Hydra offered a deal. He was only twelve, and he was walking home with Bucky. It was a normal day really, no one could guess that that day was a starting point of changing Steve's life completely.

Bucky and him were acting the same as any other day, jumping into puddles, laughing, talking about girls, well Bucky was, even at a young age he was what his mother would call a "ladies' man." Steve, on the other hand, was shorter than most of the girls, he was also scrawny. If he was taller he could've passed as lanky, but he was stuck with scrawny.

As they rounded the corner of their hallway in the apartment building, their laughter died down. Sarah usually greeted Steve with a smile whenever he got home. But that day Sarah was standing in front of the door talking to men Steve didn't recognize.

They both stopped in their tracks. Sarah's arms were crossed and anger and annoyance colored her features; it was a change from her usual soft and friendly features. "Who's your mom talking to?" Bucky asked.

"I don't know. I'm going to find out," Steve said, marching to his door. Remembering the manners his mom taught him, he called over his shoulder a quick, "bye, Bucks."

"Don't get in too much trouble, Punk."

* * *

Natasha really was beautiful, and Steve thought about the fact every time he looked at her. She had this small smirk that never seemed to go away, and her eyes were always bright and held a sort of fire. Her red hair was just as firery as her eyes, and Steve had to resist the urge to reach out and touch a curl.

Usually Steve isn't drawn by beauty. As an artist he does admire it, but he was never enticed by a girl's looks.

But with Natasha it was different.

The fire in her features reflected her personality. They sat on the roof for hours the other day, rising only when the sun dipped below the horizon. But he saw a part of her, that fire that makes his heart pound.

* * *

**Sunflowers** were always Sarah's favorite flower. Mostly do to with the fact that any other flowers gave Steve allergies, but the flower still held a beauty that Sarah loved. Since it wasn't easy to grow sunflowers in an apartment in Brooklyn she usually just bought things with a sunflower print.

That day she was wearing her favorite apron, the one with sunflowers all over it, she must have been cooking. The ends of it were balled up in her fists, and a few stubborn blond curls escaped from her bun.

Coming closer Steve could faintly hear the conversation in bits and pieces. Sarah's voice was angry, angrier than Steve has ever heard it. "You can't have him-"

"Ma'am-"

"No! He's my son, not a science experiment, and no amount of money could change that."

With a jolt, Steve realized that they were talking about him. "Mom?" He said softly.

The men turned to him with a smile, and his mom tensed. One man crouched down to Steve's height. "So this is Steven?" His voice was friendly, and his smile seemed too fake.

Sarah lightly grabbed Steve's arm. "Don't talk to him," she said, pulling Steve into the apartment.

The men were persistent. "Please reconsider our offer." One handed her a card, which she promptly ripped up.

"Get off my propety before I call the cops."

* * *

"That's Thor, Sam, Coulson, and Bruce," Steve said. He had his hand on the small of Natasha's back, and he was sure his cheeks were getting redder by the second. "This is Natasha." He was sure they already knew her name, but he was just being polite.

Natasha decided that she didn't really like the dining hall. It was crowded and loud. The tables reminded her of cafeterias in her old schools. The lighting wasn't harsh like in her old schools though, it was dim and gave off a soft orange glow.

Thor stood up, making his chair scratch against the floor. Before Natasha could protest, Thor was embracing her. His voice was loud when he spoke, and most of the people in the dining hall turned to look at them. "Welcome to SHIELD."

"Careful, Thor, she'll kick you in the nuts," Bucky called from the table.

Natasha awkwardly patted Thor's shoulder in hopes of him releasing her. He seemed to get the hint because his hold on her loosened. Steve was trying to stifle his laughter. "He's a little... Friendly," Steve said apologetically as they sat down.

"I could tell."

* * *

**Sarah's **mood shifted back to her usual sunny and light personality. But her face was still pale as she hummed. She locked the door, and threw the ripped up business card in the trash.

She went back to the kitchen, and the sound of pots and pans filled the room. Steve put his backpack in his room, and then slowly approached the kitchen. "Mom who was that?" Steve asked.

Sarah froze, but she quickly shook it off and turned to him with a smile. "It was no one, Sweetie. Did you take your medicine?"

"Yeah," Steve said slowly. "But I heard-"

"Do you have homework?" She cut him off.

"Just math."

"Get it done before dinner." She turned away from the stove, and pulled Steve into her arms. "I love you, never forget that," she said while carding her hands through his hair.

Steve noticed her shaking, but he didn't say anything. "I love you too, Mom."

* * *

Natasha seemed to warm up to everyone quickly. Steve knew he probably was being obvious with the side glances he tried to sneak. Natasha caught him once, but she just gave him a smirk, and he looked away, embarrassed.

Eventually Clint slid into the seat next to Natasha. "Food looks kinda gross today," Clint said.

Natasha grimanced, "I was in the kitchens this afternoon."

Clint pushed his tray away. "If you made it I'm definitely not eating it."

"Rude."

* * *

**Dinner **went by as usual. Sarah asked Steve about his day and he asked about hers. Steve didn't bring up the men or the card, and she said nothing about it. But Steve's eyes kept drifting to the trash can.

After dinner was over Steve cleared the table without complaint. Sarah kept looking at him, and he was getting worried.

When Steve climbed into bed she stood in his doorway. "Do you want me to read you a story? Just like I use to," she said softly.

"Okay."

She pulled out his old storybook that they both haven't seen in years. She began to softly read to him, but he wasn't paying attention. Her hands were still shaking. She read two stories before he pretended to fall asleep. He felt her press a kiss to his head, and heard her flick off the light.

He lied awake in for an hour, just staring at the ceiling. Finally he slipped out of his bed.

A perk of being small was you could be silent if you needed to be. Steve stepped by Sarah's door, and was relieved to hear her soft, even breathing. She was asleep.

He padded to the kitchen, and looked inside the trash can. The card was still there, and Steve pulled all the pieces out.

It took him five minutes to put all the pieces together, it was like a puzzle of sorts. The card was barely readable, and Steve could only make out two things. There was a symbol, it was an octopus. Then the only word he could see: Hydra.

* * *

**AN: So Steve's backstory is confusing now, but they'll be more on that later. There'll also be more Romanogers in later chapters, I already wrote some scenes. Also Tony is introduced in the next chapter ayyy. Reviews make my day and motivate me. Follow and favorites make me smile. Thanks for reading!**

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Marvel**


	5. Chapter 5

Something Howard Stark never believed in was signs. Maybe if he did he wouldn't be dead by the end of the day.

There was a strange look on Howard's face that day. From the second he woke up he felt this strange feeling; everything was sort of hazy and dreamlike. Howard couldn't focus on anything, and he hated it. This was the first sign, and he easily avoided it.

Maria felt it too, he knew she did. Her hands shook as she gathered all the Hydra files that were left on the table the night before.

She gasped when he put a hand on her arm. "It's just me," he said softly.

"Sorry," she said softly.

"You're shaking."

Maria shook her head, "I'm fine, it's just cold in here." She turned back to the files.

Howard gently grabbed her arm, and spun her to look at him. "It's September."

She looked at the the picture frames on the wall behind him, the table cloth, and the buttons on his shirt, anywhere but his eyes. "Tony must have turned the air on again."

Howard knew that she was lying, but he didn't say anything. The he saw the files. "Barnes, James" stuck out of the file. He hid these from her ages ago; he didn't know how she found them.

Hydra told them that James had volunteered for the program, as Steve Rogers had the previous year. They were told to copy the super serum. They refused after Bruce Banner.

Banner was only sixteen, and a genius. They were use to working with kids, they worked with Jane Foster and her slightly childish but quirky assistant Darcy Lewis a few months before. Bruce Banner and Betty Ross reminded Howard of Maria and him, and he couldn't deny that he had a small soft spot for them.

Bruce was fascinated by the serum, and he and Betty were assigned to replicate it. Fascination turned to obsession over time. He refused to follow the procedure slowly and cautiously, and tested on himself.

After Bruce, Howard and Maria refused to ever use the serum again.

But Hydra was insistent with Barnes; they said this was a special case. They still refused, so Hydra assigned other scientist to the project. The serum took years to perfect, and Bruce was an example of what could happen when it was rushed.

They only met James once, it was shortly before his escape from Hydra. He had a distant look in his eyes, and he said nothing. After their short encounter they never saw him again. Hydra said he was found dead, they didn't want to admit that they accidentally let a human weapon loose in the world. But the files held the truth.

Howard snatched the files from the table. "Where did you find these?"

Maria just shook her head, her lips pressed into a thin line. Her voice cracked as she spoke, "He was only a boy."

"Where did you find these?" He asked more forcefully.

A few tears fell down her cheek. "It could've been Tony. It could've so easily been Tony."

"Tell me you did not find these in my nightstand drawer."

"I'm sorry."

"Maria, tell me you did not read the rest of Barnes' files!" He was yelling now.

All she did was repeat herself. It was a mantra of "I'm sorry."

He dug through the files. "When did you read all of these?"

"Last night."

He pulled back from the table. "Shit." Something in him broke, and he needed to break something. He pushed over shelves and tables. Broke glasses, and vases, and yelled a string of curses all while Maria stood away from the chaos.

"I tried to hide these from you."

He stopped his reign of destruction on their dining room, and turned to her. His voice changed to a whisper. "No one can know about this. No one can know what really happened to James Barnes. The Winter Soldier is dead to the world. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Do you understand?" He yelled it this time, and shook her.

She pushed him away. "Yes!"

"These need to be destroyed now." Howard said before grabbing his car keys.

The files were destroyed, but not in the way Howard intended. Maria didn't realize a Hydra agent was in the backseat of the car until she heard the gunshot, and felt the car swerve.

The only thing she could hear was a ringing in her ears, she didn't hear the car swerve, the honks from cars around them, she didn't even hear her own scream when she turned to see her husband dead.

Blood splattered all over the car, and she reached for the wheel desperately trying to get control of the car.

Tony. She had to stay alive for Tony.

The thought was her last one as she felt the gun against her head. The Hydra agent jumped out of the car before it crashed. The files were destroyed among the wreckage. The Winter Soldier was still dead to the world, as were the Starks.

* * *

Natasha was not sitting on the roof hoping Steve would come. Nope. Not in the slightest. But if he did come it's not like she could tell him to leave, or not talk to him. So really there's nothing she could do if he decided to sit next to her, or smile at her.

They don't really bother with greetings on the roof anymore. Usually they just sit in silence. Sometimes for only few moments, and sometimes for a long period of time.

She heard the sound of boots scraping against the floor, he dragged his feet when he was tired, and he sat down next to her without a word.

He looked exhausted. There were dark lines under his eyes, and he blinked slowly. There was some stubble on his jaw, it's been awhile since he's shaved.

They both kept their eyes trained on the city in front of them. "Did you just get back from a raid?" Natasha asked, not facing him.

"Not exactly," he said quietly.

"Which means?"

"Howard and Maria Stark died today. Car crash. We had to go check it out." He stopped for a moment and exhaled. "Even though they worked for Hydra they were good people, well at least they were when I last saw them." Steve's voice got quieter as he spoke.

Natasha shifted closer to him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, no."

Natasha was a little relieved. She was never a talker, but she felt like she had to ask. She doesn't like seeing Steve like this. In the short time they've known each other he was always happy and lighthearted, a drastic change to his slumped shoulders and distant look.

"Did you work in the kitchens today?" Steve asked.

"No, thankfully."

Steve laughed a little. "I could tell, you don't have murder in your eyes."

She tilted her head towards him. "What's that suppose to mean?" She asked.

"It means they shouldn't let you around the knives."

"Don't sass me, Rogers." She said, but she was still laughing, then he was laughing.

Eventually their quiet laughter died down, and they both turned to the city. It was nice just sitting and staring at New York, but it also so felt a little intimate. So much so that Steve shifted closer to Natsha.

They were close enough that if Steve reached his hand out it would touch hers. So he did. But before their skin could make contact they heard commotion downstairs.

"We should probably go see what that's about," Natasha said. Steve's hand sprung back to his side the second she spoke.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, we should."

She stood up, and brushed off all the dust off her jeans. She gave him a strange look. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, why?"

"Nothing, you're just blushing."

* * *

It's funny how much things can change in such a short period of time. It only took a few hours for Tony's life to change when his parents stopped breathing.

His mother came in hours before, she had tears in her eyes and she kissed Tony's head before leaving. The memory was blurry from sleep, and now it's the last he had of her.

The next thing Tony knew, his front door was being kicked in and his house was filled with voices and footsteps. He tried to shake off how tired he was, and focus. His dad told him to do something, it had a name. He could remember after he got away.

He stuffed his bags with whatever clothes he could grab. He slipped out the window, and climbed down the drain pipe. With one last look at his home, he ran.

* * *

When Natasha and Steve got down to the lobby, everyone was crowded around each other. When Pepper came everyone moved to make room for her. That's when they saw Bucky's hand around Anthony Stark's jacket collar.

Pepper pointed the end of her pen at him. "Anothony Stark, what are you doing here?"

"One, it's Tony," he tried to shrug out of Bucky's grip but it only tightened, "and two, I'm here because my parents are _dead_." There wasn't the usual arrogance in his voice, and his sorrow expression was enough to make even Natasha's features soften. "It was Hydra who murdered them," he said, his features hardening.

"Arent your parents one of the main Hydra scientist?" Natasha questioned, suspicion replacing pity.

"They stopped working for Hydra years ago-"

"That's Bullshit," Clint cut him off.

"There's no way they weren't working for Hydra with the house they were living in," Bucky said.

Tony twisted his head to him. "You're the one that broke in?" Bucky just gave him a small smirk, Tony's nose scrunched up, "you broke Jarvis."

"I broke what?"

"Jarvis," Tony said. "He was an A.I.." He groaned at the confused looks he was given. "It was a security system, you've all obviously never heard of one. I easily just walked in here until Tinman over her grabbed me."

"Why would we help you, Stark?" Pepper asked, stepping closer.

"Well I can improve your security system, just give me a few days."

Pepper's eyes searched his face momentarily. Then she turned to Bruce. "Show him the labs."

* * *

"So what do you think about all this Stark bullshit?" Maria asked.

Maria was Natasha's roommate, and she wasn't that bad. They both kept to themselves mostly, but talked enough so the room wasn't it tense silence. Natasha guessed it was a talking night.

"I don't know. I wouldn't trust a Stark," Natasha said, "they were the first ones to join Hydra."

Maria shrugged. "Doesn't mean anything. Rogers was voluntarily with Hydra at first." Before Natasha could reply, there was a knock on the door. "I bet that's Rogers now," Maria said.

Natasha rose from the bed, and crossed the room to the door. Sure enough when she opened it Steve was there with a small shy smile. "Hi," he said, his eyes flicking to the floor.

Natasha leaned against the door frame. "Hey, it's after curfew, Rogers."

He laughed. "You say that like everyone actually follows curfew." His eyes flicked back to the floor, "I know it's late, but I just wanted to see if you're okay."

"I'm fine, I just have a nosey roomate," she said raising her voice for Maria to hear.

"Don't mind me," Maria said, not hiding that she was listening in at all.

Steve chuckled. "I was also hoping that we could- well, um- if you want to-" he trailed off.

"Yeah?"

Steve scratched the back of his neck. "Do you want to go on the roof? Just for an hour or so."

Natasha smiled, "okay."

* * *

**AN: so there will be more on Bruce's and Bucky's back stories later in the story. Also I already have set pairings for this story -romanogers, Tony and pepper, Jane and Thor- but if theres any others you want to see just leave it in a review and I'll try to work it in. I'm also not too sure if I should add the Maximoffs, but it's definitely a possibility. **


	6. Chapter 6

Natasha learned quickly that when the lobby is filled with people it means they're volunteering for raids. Steve and Bucky were already in the front of the group- as usual. Natasha shouldered through the crowd, murmuring "sorry's" and "excuse me's" until she reached them.

Steve noticed her instantly while Bucky kept his eyes trained on Pepper. "Hey," he said, giving her a small smile.

"Hey, guessing there's a raid?" Natasha asked, her eyes scanning the crowd. It was the first time she saw the lobby this crowded. The person next to her bumped into her, and she knocked into Steve. He grabbed her as she fell onto his chest, and looked down at her wide-eyed and blushing. "I have said this once and I will say it again, you're like a wall, Rogers."

Before he could reply, Bucky spoke. "I turn away for three seconds-"

"Calm down," Natasha interrupted him, "I fell." Steve's arms fell to his side, and she stepped a few inches away from him. "What's so big about this raid?" Natasha asked.

"We're checking out the Stark house. Most people probably want to see what they could steal," Bucky said.

"That explains it."

The noise in the room came to a stop as Pepper cleared her throat. "As most of you know, the current raid is on the Stark residence for any information on Hydra we could find. Volunteers?" Almost everyone raised their hands.

Maria was pushing everyone in the crowd away until she reached Pepper. They were whispering to each other, and Maria handed her a piece of paper.

"Change of plans. Fury already decided who will go, there will be no volunteers," Pepper said, turning back to the crowd. There was a collection of groans and murmurs from the crowd, but Pepper ignored them.

"If you all quiet down I'll read the list." She looked at the paper, and started reading off the names. "Rogers, Barnes, Hill, Barton, Bishop, Odinson, Danvers, Morse, Stark, Maximoff-"

"Which one?" A girl with brown hair in the front of the crowd asked.

"Both of you, Wanda," Pepper said.

There was a rush of blue, and a boy appeared next to the girl. They highfived, "cool," the boy said.

"And Romanoff," Pepper said.

Natasha's eyes widened, and she looked at Steve. He elbowed her. "First raid," he whispered.

"Didn't think I'd get one so soon," Natasha said, raising an eyebrow.

"It's probably because we found you there, so you already know the place," Steve said.

"Whatever it is, Fury has a good reason. He usually never picks people for raids. Especially new people," Bucky said.

"Who's Fury?" Natasha asked.

"The director of SHIELD. You're lucky if you ever see him, he's never out of his office." Steve answered. The few times Steve has seen the director, they were arguing. Fury usually avoids Steve after their encounters.

"You don't want to see him," Bucky added. Bucky bumped into him once, and Fury called him a "motherfucker." That's about the only time Bucky has seen him.

The crowd was already thinning, and a few glares were sent their way. Natasha felt hands messing up her hair, and she knew it was Clint, he'd always do that. "Tasha's first raid," he said. She elbowed him, and he pulled away with a groan. "Was that necessary?"

Natasha smoothed her hair down. "Very."

A girl with black hair and a purple headband was next to Clint. "This is Kate Bishop," Clint said, "she's like nine, and spoiled rotten."

"I'm fifteen," Kate said to Natasha, "he's just being a dick."

"He does that," Natasha said. "He thinks his dad jokes are funny."

"I wouldn't call them 'dad jokes,'" Clint said.

Pepper showed up, Tony at her side, she looked annoyed. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to give you the files." She handed everyone the thick yellow files, and smiled at Natasha. "Good luck on your first raid."

"It's my first raid, don't I get a 'good luck'?" Tony asked. "Because a kiss would do just fine-" He stopped talking when Pepper shoved the file into his chest a little too forcefully.

"Anyone seen Odinson?" Pepper asked.

"I think he's in the dining hall," Kate said.

"Figures, I'll go see," Pepper said, walking away.

"I'll come with you," Tony said, following her.

"No," she snapped at him. The _clicks _of her heels got louder as she tried to walk away from him.

The group watched them go. "I give them three months until they get together, or Pepper kills him," Bucky said when the two were out of earshot.

* * *

They walked in pairs on the sidewalk. Kate and Natasha were walking silently next to each other, the only sound was their boots on the sidewalk, and they could faintly hear Steve and Bucky in front of them.

Kate broke the silence. "So Rogers and Barnes were the ones who brought you in?"

"Yeah," Natasha said, her eyes flicking up to Steve. He looked over his shoulder and gave her a small smile. She smiled back, and Kate's eyes flicked between the two.

"Did you know each other before SHIELD?" Kate asked.

"No, I only knew Clint."

"You met at the circus, right? He told me you were a ballerina. I met him at the circus too, actually."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"The circus was in my town for a few weeks. My sister and I went on the first day, I saw the way Clint could shoot, and I wanted to know how. So after the show, I snuck backstage and asked him to teach me." Kate said.

Natasha laughed. "He probably thought he was hot shit."

Kate laughed with her. "He did. When he went to SHIELD he took me with him." Her dad probably didn't even know she was gone, he was too preoccupied with his new young wife that was in the same graduating class as her older sister. And her sister was too focused on her fiancé to notice.

Before Natasha could reply, Steve turned around. "It's a left, right?"

"No," Bucky said, "we have to take a right."

"You're both wrong, we don't turn yet," Natasha said.

The rest of the short walk was spent in silence, and soon enough the Stark mansion came into view. "I still don't understand why only three people needed such a big house," Bucky said.

"It's such a waste," Steve agreed, climbing the fence.

By the time Tony caught up to them, Clint by his side, most of them had already climbed the fence and were on the property. "What do you think you're doing?" Tony asked.

Clint just shrugged, threw his bag over the fence, and began to climb with ease. "Getting into the house," Bucky said.

"This is breaking into my property," Tony said, glaring at them through the bars.

"It's not yours anymore," Bucky said, "now climb."

After Bucky and Tony bickered for a few more minutes, Tony gave in and grudgingly climbed the fence. "I don't think he could even climb a ladder," Natasha whispered to Steve as they both watched Tony struggle in climbing over.

"No, but I'd pay to see him try," Steve whispered back.

"Will someone just help him?" Bobbi Morse finally said.

"I got it," Thor said, walking towards the gate.

"No, no no, no-" Tony said before Thor grabbed his collar and pulled him down.

"That wasn't so bad, was it now?" Thor said.

Tony got up from the ground, and dusted his clothes off. "Being thrown to the ground was just fine, Goldilocks." Tony said sarcastically. Thor, not catching on to the sarcasm in Tony's voice, laughed and slapped Tony on the back, resulting in him falling again.

"If you two are done, I'd like to give instructions," Steve said. "We're splitting up into pairs, and covering different grounds. Hill and Bishop, and Odinson and Danvers check out the basement. Barton and Morse, and Barnes and Stark-"

"No," Bucky and Tony both yelled.

"We've had the most experience, so we need to watch over their first raids," Steve said, jerking his head towards Tony and Natasha.

"Fine," Bucky huffed.

"As I was saying," Steve continued, "Barton and Morse, Barnes and Stark, first floor."

"Not a problem," Bobbi said, grabbing the back of Clint's jacket and walking towards the house.

"Maximoffs, second floor." He turned to Natasha. "and Romanoff, you're staying with me."

"Second floor?" The boy asked. The second Steve nodded the twins were gone.

"Am I picturing it, or does he keep disappearing?" Natasha asked Steve, looking at the place they were.

"Pietro?" Steve chuckled, "I forgot to tell you about him. The Maximoff's broke out of Hydra about a year ago, they were tested on. Hydra was taking the serum I had used a few years ago and altering it to create superpowers or something. I'm still not sure what Hydra was trying to do, the Maximoffs don't talk about it much, but when they broke out they had powers. Pietro has superspeed," Steve explained.

They walked on the grass towards the house where all the other agents were already in. "What about Wanda?" She asked.

"Wanda has this weird science thing that you should probably ask Bruce about. The short answer is she can alter reality." Steve said, slowing his pace as they got closer to the house.

"Are they the only two that Hydra tested on?"

"No," Steve said, "there's probably a good quarter of SHIELD agents with powers. Like Johnny Storm and Sue Storm."

"Johnny really? I met him the other day, I was talking to him for a good five minutes before I realized he wasn't you." They both came to a stop in front the house, neither of them wanted to end the conversation.

"We look nothing alike," Steve protested. "We kinda have the same nose, but that's it."

Natasha shook her head. "You're like twins," She said as she opened the front door, "you even have the same haircut."

Steve followed her into the house. "It's not the _same _haircut," he protested.

* * *

The Maximoffs had already searched most of the upstairs, but there was still countless guest rooms and offices to look in. The guest rooms only had made beds, and dusty night stands, and Natasha and Steve searched through them quickly. By the time they made it to the main office, the Maximoffs were searching through the countless file cabinets.

"Find anything yet?" Steve asked, stepping into the room, Natasha behind him.

Wanda didnt look up from the cabinet she was kneeling in front of. "A few things, but someone beat us to it. The office was neat when we came in, but the cabinets are pretty empty and unorganized."

"Wait, what?" Steve asked.

"A lot of things are missing from the cabinets," Wanda repeated.

"Hey, guys?" Pietro said, "is it normal for people to have cameras in their homes?"

"Let me see it," Steve said, reaching for small camera. There was wires sticking out, Pietro must've ripped it out of the wall. Pietro handed it to Steve, and Steve examined it. He froze when he saw the Hydra symbol on it.

"We have to leave," Steve said.

Wanda rose from the floor, "why?"

Steve held up the camera, and pointed to the symbol. "This is why. Pietro, where did you find this?"

"In the wall next to the desk."

"I don't think the Starks knew these were installed. They're probably all over the house, we need to leave." Steve said, setting the camera on the desk.

All of their heads turned to Steve as they heard the front door open. Steve touched his comm. "Stay down and quiet," he ordered. He turned to Pietro, "I want you to get everyone out of here. Don't run past any Hydra agents, they'll realize we're here," Steve instructed. "Get Wanda out of here first, they'll want her the most." Wanda had been the most recent Hydra "improvement," and besides Steve and Bucky, the most valuable to Hydra. Pietro nodded his head, and in a blink of an eye he and Wanda were gone.

Steve turned to Natasha. "Remember the first night we met?"

"Yeah," Natasha said warily.

"Remember how you jumped out the window, and I caught you? Well now the second time won't be so bad," he said, pulling her towards the window. He cupped her face with his hands. "You can trust me."

"I know."

He pulled his hands away, and slipped out the window. Natasha followed suit, and soon enough she was in Steve's arms. He set her down, and he put a finger on his lips to tell her to stay quiet. Their hands twisted together, and they ran through the grass silently.

They didn't stop running until they reached the city, and Steve pulled her into one of the warehouses so they could catch their breath. "You alright?" Steve asked her.

"Fine," Natasha said, leaning against the wall. "You should probably check on everyone."

Steve nodded, and switched on his comm. Natasha switched hers on too to make sure Clint got out. "Pietro?" Steve said.

Pietro responded immediatly. "Steve! I went back for you, but you were both gone."

"We're fine," Steve said, "did you get everyone out?"

"Yeah, I got everyone. We almost got caught though." Natasha breathed a sigh of relief, Clint was okay. "We split up, and we started making our way towards SHIELD."

"We'll meet you there in an hour or so," Steve said, switching his comm off.

"He's alright," Steve told Natasha.

She switched her comm off. "I know."

Natasha thought she saw jealousy cross his features, but the expression was gone as soon as it came. "We should probably head back to SHIELD," Steve said, his eyes flicking to the door.

He opened it, but quickly shut it. "We were followed."

Natasha pushed of the wall she was leaning on. "What?"

"We were followed," Steve repeated. "I recognize him, Rumlow, he use to be in SHIELD, but switched to Hydra. We can't go out there, we have to wait it out for awhile." Steve switched his comm back on. "Change of plans, we were followed, we can't go back to SHIELD yet."

Natasha didn't know who he was talking to, but he shortly turned his comm off. She slid down the wall. "Where are we?"

Steve sat down next to her. "A warehouse, probably abandoned." There was an abundance of abandoned building scattered around New York, and all places really, after Hydra took over. Most people couldn't afford them anymore, and no one could afford to buy them, so they were just abandoned.

"Everything is so screwed up," Natasha said.

Steve shrugged, "this isn't the first time Hydra followed us, and it won't be the last. It's not a big deal," He tried to reassure her.

"Not Hydra following us, well all this is because of Hydra, but that's not what I meant. What I meant is how everything is. There's no government, Hydra basically tyrates America, and no one can stop it."

Steve paused for a moment, but then spoke in a soft voice. "Hydra did ruin everything, what's even worse is I'm one of the main reasons Hydra started. I rather be scrawny and diseased than live in a world with Hydra. But with SHIELD, I feel like Hydra can't control me like they use to." He looked up at her, expecting her not to be listening, but she was looking at him and she seemed interested. "You probably don't want to hear all this," Steve said, looking away.

She shifted closer to him. "I do."

"I didn't want to do the serum at first, but I gave in when I was sixteen. I couldn't of known that all this would happen," he continued. "I don't think I can talk about this anymore, Nat."

She leaned her head on his shoulder. "You don't have to, Steve. So how long do we have to stay here?"

"All night probably."

"Fun."

"Yup."

* * *

**AN: So I did add a few comic book characters, mostly to add more women to the story because there's barely any in mcu, but it's still centered around the mcu characters. The Maximoffs probably seem a little out of character because I'm not too familiar with them, but if anyone knows any good comics about them I'm open to suggestions.**

**Disclaimer: all right belong to marvel**


	7. Chapter 7

Natasha could hear the shouting before she even made it to the front door. She sighed, her parent's honeymoon phase was over again. They would fight and scream at each other for hours on end, then her dad would apologize and they would both pretend that they didn't hate each other. Then they'd get in a fight again and the cycle would start all over again.

She slipped into the house unnoticed and made a beeline for her room. She caught a quick glance at her parents, her mom was standing with her arms crossed, her red hair escaping it's knot, and she was staring down her dad. Her Dad was inches away from her Mom's face, yelling at her. Turning away from the sight, Natasha ran to her room. She closed the door behind her with a sigh of relief that she wouldn't be dragged into one of their fights.

Natasha zipped open her backpack and pulled out her homework. She could still hear her parents, and she couldn't concentrate. Natasha wasn't an idiot, she knew the only reason they were still together was because of her. She finally just gave up on her homework, it was no use trying to concentrate.

She crawled to the TV and flipped it on to drown out her parent's yells. She flipped through all the channels until she came to a stop on a channel with a familiar face. Steve Rogers was on TV, he was always on these days, he was the only symbol of hope for a country that was falling apart.

Her parents yells were getting louder and closer, despite the loud TV. Her hands trembled slightly as she turned the volume higher. Her Dad was going to drag her into the fight, she knew he will. She heard her mom cry out, and she knew her Dad just hit her. Footsteps were coming towards her door, and her Mom was calling after her Dad. "Leave her out of this!"

Natasha leaned against the wall, her head in her hands. "Don't touch her!"

"Nat."

"Nat!"

"Natasha!"

Green met blue when Natasha's eyes flew open and Steve was inches away from her, a concern look on his face. He reached out and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, trying to comfort her. "You looked like you were having a nightmare."

Her eyes followed his hand as he pulled it back to his side. She sat up. "Not a nightmare, but not exactly a dream either," she said.

"You alright?" Steve asked, inching closer to her.

"I'm fine," Natasha said, "I just don't want to go back to sleep."

Steve understood, he knew the terrors of sleep. How the past tries to claw it's way back to the present, and how unavoidable it is. When Steve closes his eyes, he still sees the Hydra lab and scientists. He shook his head to clear his mind, and turned back to the girl next to him. "We can keep each other up-" His cheeks turned red as Natasha laughed. "I didn't mean it like that," he added quickly.

She leaned her head on his shoulder. "I know what you mean, and I appreciate it."

He inched closer and leaned slightly into her touch. "Lets talk about something," he said, elbowing her.

"Like what?"

"Something simple," he said, "like, when's your birthday?" She turned to him, an eyebrow raised, he chuckled. "I'm joking, but I am going to find out eventually," he said, wrapping an arm around her. There was a part of him that expected her to throw his arm off her, but she just buried her face into his neck.

A small smile spread on his face when he felt her hair tickle his neck. "Have fun with that, Rogers."

They sat in silence as the sun slowly started streaming in though the high windows. Steve thought Natasha had fallen asleep again, and was about to wake her up, when she shifted and turned to the sun, blinking at the brightness. "What time is it?" She asked.

Steve twisted to look at his watch. "Around seven," Steve said softly.

"We should get back to SHIELD."

Steve hummed in response. Even though the warehouse was cold and the ground was uncomfortable, he didn't want to go back to SHIELD just yet. It was comforting to be with Natasha, and he didn't want to have to leave the comfort of her arms to go through countless briefings at SHIELD.

"Alright, let's go." With one last glance at Natasha, he rose from the floor. He offered her his hand, she accepted it and pulled herself off the floor. They both brushed dust off their clothes, and stretched out their stiff muscles. "It's going to be a long walk back to SHIELD," Steve said as they walked into the crisp morning air.

Natasha sighed, "I know." Her eyes flickered around the streets around them. "Where are we?"

Steve stopped, he knew where they were. He recognized the flower shop his Mother use to go to, the pet shop that he and Bucky use to pass on their way to school, and the corner store his Mother would shop at. But most of all he remembers his old apartment building. He hadn't realized the night before, but they had gone to his old street.

He felt Natasha's hand on his arm, and he could hear her speak. "Steve? Steve, are you alright?" But he wasn't hearing her because he saw someone he hasn't seen in years: his mom. He wanted to run to her, to wrap his arms around her like he did as a child. He missed her, he missed her more than anything. And he could see the effect that his absence had on her, she was thinner and had dark circles under her eyes. "Steve?" Natasha repeated. He watched his Mom walk down the stairs of the apartment building. He knew he couldn't run after her, so he stayed put as she slowly disappeared into the crowd of people.

He turned to Natasha. "I'm fine, lets get out of here."

* * *

**AN: Next chapter will be more on Steve's backstory and a little bit of Bucky's. Thank you for all the reviews and favorites and thank you for reading! **


	8. Chapter 8

That day that the men came was not the last. At first the visits were slow, only monthly, and Sarah would always slam the door in their faces. She'd never let Steve answer the door.

But there was one day that Sarah wasn't home when Steve heard a knock on the door. He wanted answers, and Bucky's chorus of "open the door, open it, open it," wasn't helping. Steve tried to convince himself that listening to what they had to say was harmless. So, as any two twelve-year-olds would do, Bucky and Steve stood by the door whispering their plan. Bucky spun the handle of a frying pan in his hand as he spoke. "If anything happens, I jump out and knock them out."

"What am I suppose to do then?" Steve asked.

Bucky patted his cheek a few times and used that voice that got him Valentine's Day cards from all the girls in their class. "Since there's only one pan, you stand there and look pretty, doll face."

Steve batted his hand away. The knocks on the door were impatient by the time Steve twisted the knob, hand shaking slightly. He was greeted by fake smiles and pressed suits. "Hello, Steven, is your mother home?" One of them asked.

Regret filled Steve, he knew how upset his mom would be if she found out he went against her wishes, but it was too late now. "She's in the shower," Steve said, his hand gripping the door in case he needed to slam it shut. He knew better than to say he was home alone, and he didn't want to think what would happen if his mom came home at that minute. But she was only halfway through her shift at the diner, so Steve had nothing to worry about.

The men exchanged a look. "We'll make this quick, then."

They looked like they were expecting Steve to invite them in but Steve stayed firmly planted in front of the door. "Okay."

"As your mother might of told you, we're an organization called Hydra-"

"She didn't tell me anything," Steve said, interrupting him. Whenever Steve asked anything about the strange men that came to the door, she would just change the subject. She refused to say a word about them.

The man's smile twitched slightly, like it was an effort to keep it plastered on. "Well, as any organization, we would need a kickstart, something to get us out there. And you, Steven, can help us with that."

Steve's eyes darted to Bucky, and Bucky only shrugged. "How?"

"Let's just say we can fix…" the man stopped, trying to think of a way to phrase it, "your condition. What are you diagnosed with?" Steve stayed silent, his lips were pressed in a thin line and his grip on the door tightening. When the man realized he wasn't going to get an answer, he continued. "We've developed something called the super serum, and we'd like you to be the first one to try it."

"I think that maybe you should go," Steve said, closing the door.

"Wait! Please let us finish!" The men called before Steve slammed the door shut.

Steve and Bucky stayed frozen until they heard the footsteps of the men walking away, but not before they slipped a small card under the door. "What does that say?" Bucky asked, his eyes glued to the card.

Steve bent over to pick it up. It looked the same as the card that his mother had ripped up months before. Steve passed Bucky the card. "It's the same as the other one."

"The one your mom ripped up?" Bucky asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah," Steve said, snatching the card from his hands. "I should hide this."

"Better have a really good hiding spot," Bucky said, "if your mom finds outs we're both going down."

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Bucky and Steve talking about their new information, which only stopped when Sarah walked through the front door. "Hi, boys," she said, setting down her purse.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hi, Mrs. Rogers."

She stepped into the living room. "I hope you two didn't watch too much TV today."

"We didn't," they said together.

Her eyes flicked between the two. She crouched down in front of Steve, and gently examined his arms. Then she tilted his chin from left to right. "Hmm. No dirt or bruises," she said, "what did you two do all day?"

"We just stayed home," Steve said.

"Are you two okay? You just seem too quiet," Sarah said, rising.

"I could yell at a few people from the window," Bucky suggested.

Sarah laughed. "I don't think that's a good idea, Bucky."

"If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

She looked down at Bucky, and her hands picked up a few of his locks of brown hair. "If your mother doesn't cut your hair soon, I will."

Bucky ducked his head. "I like it like this." The small apartment that Bucky lived in was filled with all of his siblings and cousins, so he was rarely noticed. And Sarah was aware of the lack of affection he got at home. When Steve first told her about Bucky's family, she immediately made it clear that Bucky was always welcome with them. And she made it a point to fuss over him just as much as she did with Steve. Bucky didn't mind, he would never admit it, but he did like the attention Sarah would give him.

"Are you two hungry? I should get started on dinner."

"Need some help?" Steve asked.

"That would be nice." Both Steve and Bucky slipped off then couch and walked to the kitchen. Sarah stopped Steve with a hand on his shoulder. "You sure you're okay?"

Nothing, she suspected nothing. It made Steve feel guilty, she trusted him and he still talked to the Hydra representatives. He wanted to run to his room and rip up the card, but he stayed put. "Nothing's wrong, Mom."

* * *

The sound of their feet hitting the hard concrete of the floor filled the quiet streets. They had no idea where they were, or if they're even going in the right direction. When Wanda and Pietro's father told them to run to SHIELD, he never gave them exact directions. He barely told them anything. They weren't even sure if they could trust the people of SHIELD.

After Hydra, they didn't really want to trust anyone.

They were kidnapped. Sold to Hydra. Turned into lab experiments. And the worse was that they were separated.

Months later, when they saw each other again, they were both unreconizable to each other. They were passing each other in the hallway, and the sight of each other shocked them both.

Wanda wasn't use to seeing Pietro like this. His shoulders were slumped, and his eyes were on the floor, a huge contrast to his normal appearance. He just seemed… broken, and it scared her. When she passed the huge windows and caught a glimpse of herself in it, she saw the same thing.

She turned in hopes of seeing her brother again, and their eyes locked. They didn't speak, but the message was clear: they had to get out.

Several things happened at once. Pietro gave Wanda a small head nod, and then he was out of the men's hands, leaving only a small gust of wind. Wanda would've been curious, but that wasn't the oddest thing she's seen all day. She felt a small surge of power leave her hands, and the men that were holding her back flew off of her and into the wall. She felt hands grab her again, and she panicked until she heard Pietro's familiar voice. "It's just me. Hold on, I'm getting us out of here."

Then he was running, but it was much faster than running. Sure, he's always been a fast runner, she had countless memories of the small races they'd have when he won and brag about it the rest of the day. But this was different, this wasn't human. She heard a window break and it wasn't until wind was rushing through her hair did she realize that Pietro had jumped out of it. She also realized that the ground was coming towards them. She held out her hands and squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that her powers would work. She breathed put a sigh of relief as they levitated only a few inches away from the ground before they hit the ground softly.

They both looked at each other, both unable to believe what just happened. "I think we both have something to tell each other," Pietro said, breaking the silence.

They heard people's voices, and they looked up to see people streaming out the building. Wanda grabbed his hand and pulled him up. "After." Then they ran. And they didn't stop running until night came to conceal them. Which was how they found themselves in their current position.

Pietro gently grabbed her arm, making her stop running. "We lost them, we're fine." Then he pulled her into his arms, she hugged him back tightly.

"Pietro?"

"Hmm?"

"I missed you."

"I missed you too."

The rest of the night was filled with them alternating between running and walking until they arrived at SHIELD in the morning, filthy and exhausted. But they were welcomed with open arms. That was months ago, they were no longer the newest members of SHIELD since Steve and Bucky had brought Natasha. And gossip of Steve's small infatuation with the redhead had replaced the gossip of the Maximoff's time in Hydra, much to their relief.

"How are you holding up?" Pietro's voice brought her back from the memory.

"I'm fine," Wanda said.

She felt the bed dip as Pietro sat down next to her. "You don't sound like you're fine."

She put her head in her hands and sighed. She rubbed at her head and at her eyes, and she swore when her hands came back black from her makeup. "What if one of the cameras got us? I can't go back to Hydra," she whispered.

"I can't either." Pietro turned her to face him. "We're safe here, Wanda, and I'm never going to let anything happen to you." She nodded and he cracked a smile. "Go easy on the eyeliner, you're starting to look like a racoon."

"I rubbed my eyes."

"Well I think the whole raccoon look suits you."

"Pietro!"

* * *

"May third?"

"No."

"Right, because it's October twenty third."

"Keep guessing, Rogers."

Steve laughed and laid his head down on the ground next to Natasha's legs. He wanted to lay his head in her lap, but he thought better of it. They were pretty close the other night in the warehouse, and he couldn't deny that he liked the feeling of wrapping his arm around her, but he didn't know if she felt the same.

He was falling for her. He didn't know if she knew or not.

She probably did, nothing really got past her, but she didn't show it. He swore that the way she looked at him was different, there was something there. He knew that his feelings for her weren't one sided, they couldn't be. But then again, he didn't want to think about if he was actually imagining it. But her hands were running through his hair and he forget what he was thinking about completely. He could get use to this.

"One of these days, Romanoff, I'm going to find out."

* * *

**AN: A huge thank you to everyone that helped me with the Maximoffs. Feedback is greatly appreciated since I stil have no idea what I'm doing with this story.**


	9. Chapter 9

After Steve had made the mistake of opening the door to Hydra, he decided quickly to never do it again. But he still kept the business card safety hidden. His mother didn't know it was there or how it got there, and that's all that mattered to Steve at the time. He didn't really bother to think much about what he was told. He noticed Bucky itching to ask, but he never did.

Years passed, and Steve was fifteen now. The representatives kept coming, and there always seemed to be a card wedged in the door, but both Sarah and Steve pretended they weren't there as they went on through their day. Sarah pretended that Steve was unaware of him knowing that he was wanted as a test subject, and Steve pretended not to notice when Sarah ripped up the cards. It was an odd system.

The routine of their lives along side Hydra was broken one morning. It was Saturday, and Sarah had actually gotten a very rare day off from the diner, and she fully intended to spend the day with her son. But her plans were washed away when there was a knocking on the door. She shouldn't have answered it, but she did anyway. She was sick of hiding.

She was greeted by the ever present fake smiles of the Hydra reps. The cracked lips stretching into a tight smile, slightly crooked teeth peeking through. Sarah hated it. "Good morning, Mrs. Rogers."

"You have two minutes to leave before I call the police and end this for good," Sarah spit out.

One of them chuckled, a sound just as gruesome as the sight of their smiles. "I would reconsider that choice, Ma'am."

"And why is that?"

Cool and collected, he spoke. "I think you'll find that Hydra can be very persistent-"

"So I've noticed," Sarah interrupted.

For a split second there was anger in the men's eyes, but it was gone as soon as they came. "As we said before, Hydra can be very persistent, and we don't take no for an answer. And Steven is very essential to us. If he doesn't come voluntarily, we have our ways."

Sarah had a death grip on the door, and with her free hand she pointed an accusing finger at them. "You listen to me right now. There is nothing, _nothing_, that would make me give up my son!" She hissed at them. "He means more than anything to me, especially whatever you have to offer me! I will _never_ give him up, no matter what you throw at me."

The side of one of their smiles twitched, a fault in the system. "Well, it seems you've certainly left us no choice. We do sincerally apologize for what's to come, Mrs. Rogers."

"Leave. Now."

They opened their mouths again, but Sarah slammed the door in their faces before they could speak. She leaned against the door and squeezed her eyes shut. What had she done to deserve this? She slowly slid down the door until she sat in a heap on the floor. The hot tears streaming down her face were not welcomed, but she couldn't help it.

They were trying to take the one thing she had left.

"Mom? Mom, are you alright?" Through glassy eyes, she saw Steve standing in front of her. He was still in his pajamas, and the holes in the plaid material wasn't helping Sarah calm down. It seemed no matter how hard she tried, she was just an awful mother.

Thin arms wrapped around her as Steve joined her on the floor. "Everything's okay. We're going to be okay," he whispered to her. She's said those words to him countless times, it was odd hearing it from him. But it made her think of something else she's told him.

Never stand down.

Steve has lived by those words, the bruises and cuts left over from fights have shown it. But now it was time that she listened to herself. She wasn't going to stand down, she wasn't going to let anyone ruin her already broken family.

* * *

Natasha seemed softer around Steve. Not weaker, but just… kinder. He's noticed that she definitely smiles around him more.

But maybe it's more than that.

He's had a sneaking suspicion that his feelings weren't one sided for awhile. And maybe she was opening up to him. Could he open up to her? The last time he opened up to someone it did not end well, he doesn't think he can let Natasha go too.

But _God_, she was smiling at him and the sun was making her red hair shine. She was leaning in, and _was she going to kiss him_? What would he do? Kiss her back? Push her away?

But she only leaned in to rest her head on his shoulder. Sitting on the roof with Natasha close to him, only one thought popped into Steve's mind. What was he going to do about this girl?

* * *

"This lab is really unorganized."

Pepper put down the small test tube she was examining. "Well Banner was the only one who really used it, so you have to run that by him," she said.

Tony huffed. "I never even see the guy."

Pepper walked across the lab, her heels clicking on the tile. She opened a door that led to another part of the lab that Tony hadn't known about. Bruce's head turned when he saw the door opening, and he gave them both a little wave before Pepper closed the door.

"I thought that was a bathroom," Tony said.

"What have you even been doing for the past few weeks?" Pepper asked.

Tony instantly perked up. "Come here and I'll show you," Tony said, waving her over. She gave him a look, but she still walked over to him. "Watch this." She rolled her eyes, because _yes_, she was watching already.

He slid his hands on the counter before a circle of holograms popped up around them. Pepper's eyebrows shot up, she had to admit, she was not expecting this. "What does it do?" She asked.

"See for yourself," he said.

She reached out and touched a small square in the corner. Data and even a few pictures and videos popped up. "This can hold as much information as you need. You can look up files," he said, pulling up Steve's file. In the middle there was information about him, and there were several pictures of him on a bike, him before the serum, but Tony quickly swiped his file away when he saw a picture of Steve and Howard. "There's reports on here too," he said, quickly collecting himself. He enlarged the text of the latest raid, the pictures of everyone who was assigned to the raid popping up along with it.

"Huh," Pepper said, reaching out to move a few things around and open some files.

"So what do you think? Is it better than those ancient filing cabinets you've got?" Tony asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"How do you know about those," Pepper asked, tearing away her gaze to look at Tony.

"How do you think I uploaded all this information?"

"There was countless files, why did you go through all the trouble?" Pepper asked.

Tony shrugged. "Just thought it would be easier on you," he said. "I didn't realize how much you actually write down on that clipboard, I thought you just had it because it matched your shoes or something."

Pepper turned away as she started to laugh. Tony's lips turned up in a smile. "Are you laughing?" He asked. "You are! I actually made you laugh," he said, laughing with her.

"I laugh all the time," Pepper said.

"Not around me." Tony stepped closer to her until they were breathing the same air.

For a few moments they stood there, just looking at each other. Then Pepper spoke. "I think Coulson needs me."

Tony watched her leave, ways to make her laugh again racing through his mind.

* * *

**AN: Review please! And if you have any requests for the story feel free to ask!**


End file.
